The motives behind shifting gender roles and economics are complex and nuanced. But screw it, let’s blame it all on Call of Duty instead.
In a spirited debate that we clearly needed to have, CNBC’s The Kudlow Report looked at the total aggregate playtime of Call of Duty players and asked if the series was turning American men into big, jobless wusses who can’t get dates. They threw the topic to a couple of pundits, who then disputed the issue until my face somehow ended up in my palm.
One side of the “hot topic” debate was from some random person they got from a matchmaking website, who claimed that Call of Duty was a solo activity, one that’s demolishing our economy and causing a schism between ourselves and the real world. She went on to say that people don’t talk in Call of Duty, and that it was not as healthy or social as activities like Facebook, Online Dating or Ping-Pong. Guys, Call of Duty is “tearing people apart“.
On the other side, CNBC’s Caroll Roth brought some sanity to the whole thing, making a case for letting people do whatever the hell they want, saying that gaming was not inherently different than any other activity people do to have fun. In one fell swoop, she dismantled the whole argument.
“People are gonna find any way they can to screw around….they’re gonna find some other way to procrastinate — that is the American way nowadays”.
I’m not sure why, but that made me feel oddly patriotic.
To contact the author of this post, write to chrisperson@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @papapishu
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